Nikon Z7 with 500mm f/5.6E PF Autofocus example

Took the new “tiny” Nikkor 500mm f/5.6 PF lens with the Nikon Mirrorless Z 7 out for a run last night at the A-League opening match for the season. Lots of mixed autofocus posts and youtube reviews by bloggers so I wanted to see how it went in an event. The round 1 derby at Marvel Stadium is under artificial lights. Fairly even lighting but by no means bright. Normally a fast f/2.8 lens is the standard. More recently the zoom lenses like the 200-400mm and the 180-400mm are f/4, but a super-tele at f/5.6 is pushing it. But the lightweight and small 500mm is a game changer in bright conditions. And so too the equally small and light Z7. The combination would allow handholding and breakthrough portability. The challenge was to see how it would go in an indoor stadium.
The good news is that the AF worked fine. No difference to the D850, and the viewfinder brightness is so much better than the D850. Switching between the two, the clarity in the Z7’s viewfinder was in a different league.
Here’s an example sequence of 8 continuous images of @keisukehonda fighting with Kearyn Baccus shot at 1/800th @ f/5.6, ISO5000 – Autofocus setting Wide Small, AF-C Continuous, AF Lock On = 1, VR Off, High ISO NR High, Continuous High Extended, JPEG Fine*, JPEG Size Large.